science newsletter: Science News SciGuru.com

Σάββατο 7 Απριλίου 2012

Science News SciGuru.com

Coordinating the Circadian Clock: Researchers Find that Molecular Pair Controls Time-Keeping and Fat Metabolism
Nanoscale Magnetic Media Diagnostics by Rippling Spin Waves
Satellite observes rapid ice shelf disintegration in Antarctic

Coordinating the Circadian Clock: Researchers Find that Molecular Pair Controls Time-Keeping and Fat Metabolism

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 08:43 AM PDT

The 24-hour internal clock controls many aspects of human behavior and physiology, including sleep, blood pressure, and metabolism. Disruption in circadian rhythms leads to increased incidence of many diseases, including metabolic disease and cancer. Each cell of the body has its own internal timing mechanism, which is controlled by proteins that keep one another in check.

Nanoscale Magnetic Media Diagnostics by Rippling Spin Waves

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 08:00 AM PDT

Memory devices based on magnetism are one of the core technologies of the computing industry, and engineers are working to develop new forms of magnetic memory that are faster, smaller, and more energy efficient than today’s flash and SDRAM memory.

Satellite observes rapid ice shelf disintegration in Antarctic

Posted: 06 Apr 2012 07:14 AM PDT

As ESA’s Envisat satellite marks ten years in orbit, it continues to observe the rapid retreat of one of Antarctica’s ice shelves due to climate warming.

One of the satellite’s first observations following its launch on 1 March 2002 was of break-up of a main section of the Larsen B ice shelf in Antarctica – when 3200 sq km of ice disintegrated within a few days due to mechanical instabilities of the ice masses triggered by climate warming.